


Happenstance

by IMLRG



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Adoption, American Sign Language, Fantastic Racism, Female Frisk, Found Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Mental Health Issues, Nihilism, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Child Abuse, Secret Organizations, Selectively Mute Frisk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-27
Updated: 2016-12-27
Packaged: 2018-09-02 20:12:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8681851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IMLRG/pseuds/IMLRG
Summary: It's amazing how being in the right place at the right time can change a person's life, isn't it?





	

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alan contemplates his life on a beach, confronts a pair of crooks on a beach, and makes a new friend on a beach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Issues with my last story:
> 
> * Main Character was too Marty Stu  
> * I had the ending planned out and broad ideas for what would happen in the middle, but my beginning was shaky at best  
> * Too many characters in the main cast to keep track of for my one person self  
> * Story was getting off the ground too slowly
> 
> So, this story aims to correct all that, while still telling a story that should make you go D'AWW on several occasions. Let's rock.

"Man. This sucks." Alan sighed deeply as he shifted his weight on his towel, looking up at the deep blue sky at nothing in particular. The beauty of the late summer day was lost on the large man as he contemplated exactly what he was doing here, spending one of his precious few days off lounging around on a slightly overcrowded beach instead of going out and looking for a better job, one that might pay him an amount that was actually worth showing up and breaking his back for.

 **...As if that would make a difference. I've already put in my application to every place in Ebott that'd take me.** Alan thought bitterly, his normally jovial face scrunched up into an expression of distaste, as if he had just caught a whiff of a fish rotting on the sand. **Seriously, why the hell did I spend all that time and money on college if I can't even get a job that's worth a damn with my degree?!** There was a part of Alan that realized that a liberal arts degree was a crapshoot to begin with, and that when he got out of college, he would likely have had to enter a lower paying job and just wait for another job to open up that fit his expertise better. Thing was? That was five years ago. And here we was. Still stuck in his same dead end job. Still scraping by with barely any pay, struggling to afford utilities and property tax on the run down house he'd been living in since he was in college. Still waiting. Still working. Still living. JUST living.

Alan shook his head and went to stand to his admittedly impressive full height, trying to clear the bitter taste in his mouth. The 27 year old was fast approaching what was supposed to be the prime of his life, but a groan escaped his lips as he stood, a deep, dull ache in his back and a sharper, more present pain in his knees and ankles almost sabotaging his efforts. **UGH. THIS SUCKS!** Alan practically screamed in his mind as he gently twisted his spine, trying to get it to pop and release the tension he felt in his lower back. **Maybe I should try and lose some weight...** Alan thought bitterly as he glanced down at his large stomach, knowing full well that he had neither the time nor the money to make such a change. He had tried those "Eating Healthy on a Budget Lifehack" things that had been linked to him by one of his Facebook friends one time. As it turned out, even the guide's "budget" was too much for Alan to afford, and the recipes that were suggested were more style than substance, and tasted questionable to boot, when he even had a chance to cook them at all. Alan had soon resorted back to his diet of cheap fast food, canned veggies, and hot dogs and microwave burritos soon enough. It wasn't that he _couldn't_ cook, he just didn't have enough time.

And there was the rub. Time. Alan felt, even now, that time was slipping away from him faster and faster each day. It had been 4 full years since he had been in a relationship, the last one ending too soon and for no explained reason, leaving him still reeling. How pathetic. He had friends, sure, but he found that those who he actually wanted to keep were often times too busy for him nowadays, either due to their new partners, or their new, better jobs, or because they had gotten caught up in a cause greater than themselves. A cause that Alan DESPERATELY wished that he could donate his time and money to more often, but couldn't, due to a simple lack of both. All in all, Alan felt like he was just wasting time, and that was a terrible feeling for a man who dreamed to make a difference in the world, but had no way of doing that in a realistic way and still feed and shelter himself.

Alan wistfully glanced around at the beach, watching the people around him. There was an eclectic bunch of folks here today: over by the concession stands there were college students partying, over by the water line families with their kids were having the time of their lives judging by the sounds of their screaming, over there was a group of fish monsters that had come onto shore to relax and take a break from their work deeper in the ocean collecting corals and shellfish to sell for profit, and elsewhere there was a blue rabbit in a distressingly bright yellow shirt with fire truck red jeans and suspenders selling ice cream to a group of excited kids. Alan thought that it was great that the monsters weren't being bothered, they deserved a little bit of tolerance after all they had been through in this past year and a half.

Monsters had suddenly appeared on the surface world almost 600 days ago, and immediately, the world had exploded into controversy. The USA, the place where they had emerged, had utterly panicked, and there was almost a war between humans and monsters when a tall skeleton in a ridiculous looking superhero outfit had _literally_ kicked a poor elderly couple's door down and asked to become their friends, prompting the distressed residents to call the police, thinking that it was a robber dressed in a Halloween costume. So much for good first impressions. After that fiasco, things got even more heated when it came to light that not only was that NOT a Halloween costume, but there were thousands upon thousands of these new creatures in all sorts of different shapes and sizes, and they were asking to be seen by the government. To top it all off, the aforementioned breaking and entering skeleton was supposed to be their ambassador! If not for their two leaders, a pair of goat people that called themselves Toriel and Asgore Dreemurr, conflict would have been inevitable.

Thankfully, the duo worked together wonderfully to negate this disastrous first meeting, and immediately began to negotiate for their integration into the world at large. During this turbulent time, coined The Emergence by the media, many humans were divided into those who loved the new creatures and wanted them to integrate into society, and those who, like the current xenophobic president, Ronald Drumph, wanted the monsters to go away and never come back. Alan was firmly in this first camp, having seen the monsters as allies and friends from the moment he had the fortune to meet one, a kind and humorous water elemental by the name of Flo. He had even been with the large group of humans who had marched on the Capitol in peaceful demonstration for the rights of Monsterkind, and had tried his hardest to donate to the cause of Monster integration when he could (which wasn't often.)

Despite the many, MANY obstacles facing them, the monsters had taken all hardships in stride, and had managed to carve out a place for themselves in the Land of the Free, through a clever integration of humankind into their ranks as advisors and social media professionals raising awareness of what Monsterkind was REALLY about, combined with many, many deals using the vast amount of gold that they had access to underground, with talks now going towards full citizenship for the whole of Monsterkind in exchange for paying off as much of the US national debt as possible, which would be a significant amount, if they really did have as much gold as they were claiming. Now, it was commonplace to see a monster or three walking down the road, though often they were met with looks ranging from fear to disgust. Pretty pathetic, Alan thought, being bigoted towards a species of creature that only wanted peace...

Suddenly, Alan was broken out of his thoughts by the sounds of a scuffle behind him. Alan spun around, and immediately realized that something was very wrong. There were two people, a man and a woman, each trying to desperately grab hold of a small girl. The girl was rather cute, with a messy mop of shoulder length brown hair and squinty eyes clad in a purple and blue striped one piece bathing suit. Her face was carefully, blank, as if no emotion was showing from it, but Alan immediately could tell that the girl was in distress judging by her posture and body language. The two adults were scruffy and unkempt, the man wearing a threadbare t-shirt and an army-print bathing suit, and the woman clad in a two piece that was two sizes too small for her, covered by a tacky floral-print caftan. Both were fair skinned and grimy, in stark contrast to the girl, whose skin was bronzed and appearance was well kept.

"Suzan, I KNOW you don't want to leave yet, but we need to GO!" The man said in an overloud voice. "You're embarrassing your mother and I!" The girl merely shook her head as she artfully dodged another grab, desperately trying to bolt, but cut off at every angle by the older woman who was surprisingly agile despite her size. Alan saw the girl raise her hand and put her middle and pointer fingers together before hitting them both against her thumb repeatedly. Alan immediately realized this gesture as American Sign Language, and the sign was very obvious.

*NONONONONONONONONO-*

Alan had seen enough. Alan sped over, pain forgotten as adrenaline coursed through his body. "OI! Back off, you creeps!" Alan shouted, his voice immediately demanding the attention of nearly the entire beach. His training as an actor and singer really payed off in some situations. This was one of them. The man and woman jumped and spun around to face the newcomer. The man had finally caught the girl with the help of his partner, and he had her arm in an iron grip that looked very painful, if the girl's expression and her vain attempt to struggle free was anything to go off of. "Let go of her THIS INSTANT, or I'm calling the cops!"

The man sneered at Alan, revealing nicotine stained teeth. "Fuck off, pal! This is my daughter, and I'm taking her home! Where do you get off telling me to let go of MY girl?!" The man practically shouted. The woman merely agreed with her partner, hands on her hips with a cocky smirk.

"Sure, if she really WAS your daughter, which she ISN'T." Alan said back in an equally loud voice, causing everyone that was beginning to gather around the scene to begin muttering. The man now looked decidedly nervous, and the woman's grin dropped right off of her face.

"Now hold on a minute!" The woman said in a voice that would make Dolores Umbridge proud. "Are you saying that JUST because she's adopted that she isn't my baby?! You heartless monster, how DARE you?!" She shouted melodramatically. The crowd's mutter became louder, and Alan shook his head.

"Lady, you're a terrible actor and an even worse liar. Tell your kidnapping partner there to let go of the girl, he's hurting her arm." This accusation caused a hush to pass through the crowd. Both would-be kidnappers looked very nervous at this point.

"L-look, pal, this is just a big misunderstanding! This is my little girl, Suzie! We're not kidnapping her!" His words rung hollow as the girl renewed her struggle to free herself from his grasp. "She's such a headstrong girl, isn't she?..." The man said, trying and failing to diffuse the situation through humor. Alan shook his head and made a sound of disgust before kneeling down in front of the girl and catching her eyes. Icy blue met dark chocolate, and Alan saw an immense amount of fear and pain in those eyes. There was no way in hell that Alan was going to let this slide.

"Little one...." Alan said gently, though loudly enough for the surrounding crowd to still hear. "Do you know this man or this woman?" As he spoke, he fluidly used sign language at the same time, causing the girl's eyes to widen in recognition. The girl immediately shook her head rapidly, signing NO emphatically, once. Alan nodded.

"That's a no, 'pal.' Let go of the girl, or I'm MAKING you let go!" Alan's voice transformed into an angry growl as he rose to his full height before aggressively approaching, towering over the two unfortunate crooks, hands curling into fists. "How DARE you try and kidnap a deaf kid?! You two must be some sort of twisted freaks!!!" The man audibly gulped, shaking like a leaf, while the woman could only scowl, though she too was shaking slightly. The crowd around the four was rapidly turning aggressive, with shouts of "Let her go, you sickoes!" And, "Knock the asshole out, big guy!" Phones were out and recording the whole scene, and Alan was sure that the police had been called at this point. It would only be a matter of time before these two jerks got their just desserts.

The man paled, and seemed to lose his strength for a second, which was all the girl needed. Taking advantage, the girl suddenly jerked her arm out of the man's grasp and bolted away to the nearest safe spot. Apparently, that safe spot was Alan. She ran right around the 27 year old before suddenly grabbing on tight to his right leg, pressing her face into her savior's calf, effectively hiding behind him. She was shaking worse than her would-be kidnapper, her breath ragged and panicked. Alan immediately reached down and squeezed one of her hands gently. "It's okay, little one... These two morons aren't going to take you anywhere." Alan muttered to her reflexively, before berating himself internally that she couldn't see him, so she couldn't understand him anyway. However, the girl hugged on tighter, as if she had heard him, and her breath began to even out as she began to calm down and catch her breath.

Meanwhile, the crowd began to surround the two would-be kidnappers, yelling angry curses and threats. Crowd mentality had taken full effect, and Alan realized that something nasty was about to happen to the pair of unfortunate attempted kidnappers if the crowd wasn't stopped. That said, Alan didn't particularly care. In his opinion? Kidnappers deserved worse than what the crowd could dish out. With that also said, Alan realized that the kid who currently had a death grip on his calf might not exactly be safe during the ensuing violence. Alan reached behind him and lifted the shaking little girl into his arms before shoving his way out of the rapidly closing ring of people with his shoulder. The girl let out a startled squeak and tensed up at her sudden change in elevation, but relaxed as strong yet gentle arms encircled her and protected her from the rapidly encroaching crowd. After getting out of the crowd of angry humans, Alan walked a ways away before setting the girl back down again, kneeling down in front of her. Watery chocolate eyes looked up into icy blue, and the girl let out a sniff. Alan reflexively reached out to wipe the tears away, catching himself at the last second.

*Sorry. Reflex.* Alan signed, a sheepish look on his face. *Are you okay, little one?* Another sniffle, and the girl only nodded. *Did that man hurt you?* Alan persisted gently, motioning to her arm where the man had grabbed her. The girl shook her head, though she did rub the arm absentmindedly. *May I see your arm please?* The girl again locked eyes with Alan and stared for a long moment, as if trying to stare directly into Alan's soul. Alan stared back, not breaking contact, having nothing to hide from the little one. Alan could have sworn that there was a red flash in those chocolate brown eyes, but it could have also been a trick of the light. Then, after another moment, the girl meekly nodded her head and presented her wounded arm to Alan.

*Thank you for trusting me, little one. You are very brave.* Alan signed with a gentle smile before checking the damage with calloused yet gentle fingers. The kidnapper had dug his nails into her skin in an attempt to keep control, and Alan was sure that there would be a bruise where he had gripped the hardest. Thankfully, though, Alan could tell that there would be no lasting physical damage from this encounter. Alan nodded decisively before letting go and signing. *I'd like to try and clean up your arm if that's okay with you, that moron got you with his nails pretty good.* The girl nodded, and Alan stood up and motioned for the girl to follow him. The girl walked alongside the larger man, having to take two steps for every one that Alan took. Alan felt a little hand slip into his and grab hold of it, and he couldn't help but to smile a little.

They arrived at Alan's beach towel, and he plopped down and rummaged through his bag before pulling out his cell phone. Pressing a few buttons, he pulled up his Dimensional Box (he STILL couldn't believe that this was real life, even 6 months after these becoming widely available) and drew out a makeshift medical kit, complete with gauze strips, hand sanitizer, medical alcohol, antiseptic ointment, plastic gloves, and lots of bandages of different sizes. Alan swiftly wiped his hands down with the sanitizer before donning the gloves and tearing off a piece the gauze. He then soaked the gauze in the alcohol and motioned for the girl's arm, who sat down and reluctantly provided it, knowing full well this would probably hurt.

*You aren't allergic to any of this stuff, are you?* Alan asked before he applied first aid. The girl shook her head, and signed back for the first time. *The doctors in the hospital said I wasn't allergic to anything when I went in to get my shots.* Alan nodded before cleaning the area with the rubbing alcohol. "Lucky you, Kiddo... Allergies are a PAIN to deal with..." Alan muttered under his breath. The girl stayed stoic throughout the treatment, only wincing when the wipe glided over the fingernail wounds. *I'm gonna put some N-E-O-S-P-O-R-I-N on that, bandage you up, then we're good to go!* Alan signed, spelling out the name for the antiseptic gel, holding it up for the child to see before adding a little dab to another gauze section. After patching her up and applying the bandages (she was disappointed that they didn't have cartoon characters on them, much to Alan's amusement,) Alan gave the girl the thumbs up, grinning. In response, the girl scooted over and hugged Alan before signing a small *Thank you.* Alan returned the hug before nodding and responding with *You're very welcome. I'd do it again and again if I needed to.*

The odd pair sat across from each other, Alan cross-legged, the girl with one leg strait, the other folded over it. Periodically, she would alternate which leg was strait and which was folded over. They sat in companionable silence for a minute or two before Alan raised his hands and began signing to her. *So, in all the excitement, I didn't get to introduce myself. My name is A-L-A-N.* The girl smiled, and signed back. *My name is F-R-I-S-K. It's very nice to meet you, A-L-A-N. I hope that you will be my friend.* Alan grinned and nodded. *Of course, I'd love to be your friend!* Alan signed back. Frisk's smile was infectious, making him smile all the wider. Maybe this day wasn't so bad after all?


End file.
